Christmas Angels by Nadine Dorries
Published: 16th November 2017
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Pages: 336
Available in Paperback and in Kindle
Rating: 5/5
Blurb
Christmas is the most harrowing time of year for the nurses of St Angelus Hospital. A brilliant nurse secretly battling a fatal illness over Christmas... A starving baby boy abandoned in the freezing cold... A cruel, controlling mother, determined to block her daughter's nursing career at all costs...
In the run up to Christmas, nurses Pammy and Beth are aiming to win the coveted national decorating competition for the St Angelus children's ward, but drama after drama threatens to upset their plans.
Amid the hardship and poverty of 1950s Liverpool, only the humour and community spirit of nurses and patients will get the Angels through their toughest Christmas yet.
Review
Christmas Angels by Nadine Dorries is the forth book in the
Lovely Lane series. It features
characters working in the St. Angelus hospital in Liverpool and living on
Lovely Lane. This could easily be read
as a standalone but I think you will find more enjoyment if you have read the
previous novels as some characters do carry over. I was a little sad that Dana
and Victoria from the previous story do not feature in this novel but there are
plenty of characters in this novel to love, Sister Paige being a favourite of
mine.
The story starts with Maura and Tom Doherty, residents of
Lovely Lane who are caring for their little girl Angela who is suffering from a
chest infection. She is admitted to the hospital which leaves Maura sick with
worry as this was at the very beginnings at the NHS and hospitals were still
seen as scary places for most people.
On the wards Sister Tapp is battling a hidden illness while determined
to still give her patients on the children’s ward their best Christmas ever and
newly appointed Sister Paige is trying to balance her working life with the
demands of her manipulative mother.
Beth and Pammy are enjoying the Christmas festivities and
determined that their ward will win the best decorated ward competition, but
things are thrown into turmoil when little baby Louis is found neglected and
abandoned in a locked up garage. Little Louis wins the hearts of all those
around him and the whole hospital are praying he pulls through and gets better.
This is a beautifully written novel which had me totally
absorbed from the start, it’s a novel which I struggled to put down as it
pulled on the heartstrings bigtime with how emotional it is. I can pretty much
guarantee if you read this you will shed a tear or two, especially with the
storyline of baby Louis.
It is a novel which makes you feel as if you are there alongside
the nurses and staff of St. Angelus as daily life is described in such a way
that makes reading about housework captivating. This attention to detail brings
to life the joys and heartache of Lovely Lane, especially in this novel where
Christmas features heavily. You can picture how magical the children’s ward
must have looked once the nurses had decorated and can imagine how enchanting
it would be to hear the nurses singing on Christmas Eve. This is a novel which
for me brings alive the true magic of Christmas of sharing, rejoicing and letting
those we love know just how special they really are.
Despite featuring many storylines Nadine Dorries has managed
to seamlessly work them all together to make a truly stunning read with an
ending which works perfectly. I’m hoping there is another novel featuring the
characters of Lovely Lane as I don’t think I could tire of reading about them ever,
but I have a feeling this book could be the last one.
Thank you so much to Head of Zeus for sending me a copy to
review and for inviting me to be part of the blog tour, I adored this book so
much.
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